The final battle with Islamic State is imminent. Islamic State fighters are cornered in Baghouz village in Syria, near the Iraqi border and taking fire from all sides. They will be over run within days and President Trump is trying to make arrangements with European countries to take back any of their nationals involved, put them on trial and send them to prison for the crimes they have committed.
There is the expectation that about eight hundred fighters will be involved and that raises a very interesting question. These are people who willingly accepted the doctrine of an extreme view of Islam and inflicted it on captured citizens who practised a more moderate version of that same religion. It is likely that there will be Australians amongst those survivors.
Somehow this relates to the end of the second world war when allied forces discovered the concentration camps that saw the murder of millions of innocent men, women and children. Many of the people responsible faced trial in Nuremberg and were found guilty - and hanged. Others who escaped are being hunted and prosecuted to this day.
Those Islamic State fighters are murderers without a conscience. When an opposing army surrendered they took delight in filming the captured soldiers kneeling as they were beheaded. The civilians who did not immediately obey their orders suffered a similar fate and captured women were sold in the slave markets or forced into sexual relationships. The cities, towns and villages under their control were subjected to their whims and all forms of entertainment were banned.
They exercised their control without mercy. Hundreds of thousands of people have abandoned ruined homes and fled across borders to escape Islamic State and if these fighters serve time in prison they will continue to infect others with their vile ideology. They are unrepentant and ready to again spread this form of terror should the opportunity offer.
Justice would be served by inflicting on them what they delivered to others. A bullet in the brain would be a just reward for the crimes they have committed and it should be delivered without mercy. There is nothing to be gained by subjecting them to a court trial and a common punishment by death is justified.
If individual countries demur because of their internal laws that have ceased the death penalty the solution is simple. Hand these Islamic State fighters to the people they subjected to their rule and let them decide what punishment is required. The relatives of the dead are entitled to make that decision.
Just as happened with those second world war concentration camps, many of the guilty will have escaped and settled back in hiding. We need to find them and make them pay for their crimes, but there is no justice in just jailing them at a cost of millions of dollars while they continue to spread the ideology that causes such immense suffering.
The logical answer is to simply shoot the bastards !
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